Norfolk wins 24th straight, clinches AHL points title

NHL.com

Norfolk wins 24th straight, clinches AHL points titleThe Norfolk Admirals extended their professional hockey record with their 24th consecutive win on Friday night and clinched the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the American Hockey League's 2011-12 regular-season points champion with a 3-1 victory over the Binghamton Senators.

The Norfolk Admirals extended their professional hockey record by winning their 24th consecutive game, beating the Binghamton Senators 3-1 in Norfolk, Va., on Friday night to wrap up the AHL regular-season championship.

The Admirals (51-18-1-2, 105 points) earned the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy, given to the top finisher in the overall regular-season standings. The Tampa Bay Lightning's top affiliate will have home-ice advantage for as far as they go in the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs, which begin following the conclusion of the regular season on Apr. 15.

Under second-year coach Jon Cooper, the Admirals have demolished the record books -- they haven't lost since Feb. 5. Norfolk’s 24-game winning streak, including the last 18 in regulation, is the longest ever by a professional hockey team. The previous AHL record was 18 consecutive wins; the NHL record is 17, set by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992-93.

Norfolk, which has won a division title for the first time since 2003, has set franchise records for wins and points in a season while claiming its first regular-season championship.

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft